This invention relates to devices for stabilizing medication fluid tubes and, more particularly, to an apparatus for supporting a medication fluid tube on a top bed rail in a manner that sustains most of the tube weight and enables the tube to move freely and transversely relative to the bed rail in response to the movement of a patient receiving intravenous medication from the tube, and the like.
Delivering appropriate amounts of fluids intravenously to a patient in a hospital bed is often painful and even can be dangerous for the patient depending on the circumstances. For example, a patient in a hospital bed frequently receives fluids and medications intravenously. This delivery method requires a needle introduced through the patient's skin and penetrating into a vein to be connected to one end of a hollow tube. The other end of the tube is in fluid communication with a source of fluid or liquid medication that is being delivered to the patient. The fluid source, moreover, is secured to a metal stand that raises the source to a level above the patient. In this way, the liquid flows under gravitational force from the source (usually a clear plastic bag) through the tube and any metering device in the tube's passageway into the needle and, ultimately, to the patient. Quite frequently, a single patient will receive several fluids intravenously, requiring a matching number of inserted needles.
To reduce the pain associated with these inserted needles, the portion of each tube next to a respective needle often is bent into a loop of about 180° and, with the needle, is taped to the patient's body. Whenever the patient moves to change position, however, the length and weight of the tubes drag against their attached needles causing considerable pain for the patient. Occasionally, the patient's movement can be extremely painful if one or more of the needles under the weight of the tube tear out of the patient's body.
A further problem can arise from the incorrect identification of a particular tube with its associated fluid source. For example, in situations in which a patient is receiving several intravenous fluids at the same time, the jumble of tubes joining respective intravenous fluid sources to their associated needles can be very confusing, especially to a nurse or nurse's aid working under great pressure and responsible for the care of a number of patients. Consequently, time must be spent sorting out the various tubes for connection to fresh intravenous fluid sources and extreme care must be taken to insure that the proper connections are made.
Controlling the rising cost of medical care and the expensive apparatus that this care requires is a widely known problem. As a result, it also is important that any new and useful medical device should be of a construction that is inexpensive, albeit commensurate with patient safety.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved, reliable and inexpensive apparatus for relieving the stress applied by intravenous tubes to the needles inserted in a patient in order to reduce the pain caused by these needles as a consequence of the patient's movement. Further in this respect, there also is a need to provide swift and certain identification of the different intravenous fluids associated with the individual tubes through which they are supplied to the patient.